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Response to Sterling situation means league has to act

In the hours that followed the Donald Sterling controversy on Saturday, players from all over the NBA took different tacts when it came responding to the allegations of racist comments from the Los Angeles

Response to Sterling situation means league has to act

In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, right, and V. Stiviano, left, watch the Clippers play the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. The NBA is investigating a report of an audio recording in which a man purported to be Sterling makes racist remarks while speaking to his Stiviano. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement Saturday, April 26, 2014, that the league is in the process of authenticating the validity of the recording posted on TMZ's website. Bass called the comments "disturbing and offensive." (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) ORG XMIT: CAMT108(Photo: Mark J. Terrill AP)

In the hours that followed the Donald Sterling controversy Saturday, players from all over the NBA took different tacts when it came responding to the allegations of racist comments from the Los Angeles Clippers owner.

Clippers point guard and president of the National Basketball Players Association Chris Paul said the union would address the situation "aggressively," and his rival in this first-round series, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, said Sterling shouldn't be allowed to own a team. Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant tweeted, "I couldn't play for him."

Rising star Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers said he wouldn't sign with the Clippers if he were a free agent and Sterling was still the owner. Indiana Pacers forward David West tweeted that the comments were on par with "plantation politics."

But no one's voice was as loud and profound as that of LeBron James, the Miami Heat star who sent a strong message to new commissioner Adam Silver that — should the audio recording of his conversation with his girlfriend which was revealed by TMZ prove to be authentic — something severe must be done to Sterling.

"The playoffs have been unbelievable, and I hate the fact that something like this has to come out when the playoffs have been unbelievable and the game of basketball continues to grow, but there is no room for Donald Sterling in our league; there is no room for him," James said. "I believe in Adam, I believe in the NBA, and they have to do something and do something very fast and quickly before this really gets out of hand. There is no room for Donald Sterling in our league, man."

Yet this issue is hardly that simple for Silver and the NBA. There are legal waters that the NBA will have to navigate, and a pushback on Sterling's part that has already begun. The team released a statement through team president Andy Roeser that questioned the authenticity of the tape and accused the girlfriend of, in essence, seeking revenge by releasing the tape because she is being sued by Sterling for the embezzlement of $1.8 million of Sterling's money.

But one way or another, the gap between what players expect to happen and how this will actually unfold will simply have to be bridged. That was the message heard loud and clear in James' words, one that had more to do with the early trust Silver has earned from his players than it did any sort of power-play or ultimatum. His response, make no mistake, will set the tone for this pivotal relationship that is only three months in the making.

Silver's enormous challenge comes with a complication, though, a reality that the players simply don't want to hear any excuses for why Sterling can't be given the just due they believe he deserves. In Portland, where the Trailblazers and Houston Rockets were engrossed in one of the many compelling first-round series that is now being overshadowed, Rockets players who had been advised by a team official not to speak on the matter just yet because of legal reasons had plenty to say privately.

They spoke with anger and dismay, with big man Dwight Howard indicating that he heard half of the Sterling audio tape.

"I can't say how I really feel," Howard said.

Casspi, who either wasn't aware of the suggestion to withhold comment or simply spoke because social issues like this must be discussed, was simultaneously shocked and not surprised at all. It was only three years ago when a mural of the former Sacramento Kings player's face that was featured in that city's downtown area was spray-painted with a swastika on two separate occasions. It was a painful reminder that hate was alive and well in this world, one that appears to have come in a different form here.

"I mean I was pretty shocked," Casspi told USA TODAY Sports. "He's been the owner of that team for many years, and in 2014 you still have racism. It's just sad. To me, it's sad. Having dealt with anti-Semitism as a Jew, and with Jewish history and now in the United States (being) probably the most free country in the world. It's just sad. I feel bad for him.

"I don't think he'll be an NBA owner anymore. I don't think the players would like to play for him."

This is hardly the first unflattering story when it comes to Sterling, who purchased the team in 1981 for $12.5 million (according to Forbes Magazine). Clippers legend and former general manager Elgin Baylor accused him of having a "plantation mentality" in his unsuccessful lawsuit against Sterling. Sterling also paid millions to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice after being sued for discriminatory rental practices.

But it's a misnomer to think that the vast majority of NBA players knew all of this. They may have heard a few tales, and perhaps even read a few stories about Sterling along the way. But hearing his voice –again, assuming it is his voice – and hearing his world view with your own ears is a different experience altogether. Thus, the outrage has reached an all-time high and Silver finds himself with a most daunting and crucial task.

"I didn't know that (about Sterling's reputation), with the court stuff," said Blazers small forward Dorell Wright, who is in his 10th year in the league. I thought this was something new. Guys just didn't know. I had no idea. I didn't have any clue. I thought this was the first incident."

They know now, though, and the idea that one owner sees the world this way has opened up a door to other unsavory possibilities that Silver simply must close.

"The thing is (Sterling) is probably not the only one that feels that way," said Lillard, who learned of the story on Twitter. "I wasn't even aware of who (Sterling) was by name.

"I think because (racism) goes so far back in our history, that maybe people might think that it doesn't exist. But there might be some people still out there that feel that way."